Roland a bright spot in Aggies’ exhibition

COLLEGE STATION — There’s a reason Derrick Roland played more minutes than any other Aggie on Wednesday night in Texas A&M’s lone official exhibition game of the season.

“He’s been our best player in practice,” second-year coach Mark Turgeon said.

Roland, a junior guard from Dallas, and sharpshooter Josh Carter led the Aggies with 14 points each in a 72-59 victory over Texas A&M-Kingsville.

Since it was an exhibition game, I journeyed up into Reed Arena’s second deck to join friends and check out the birds-eye view. I wound up watching Reed’s center video board — the picture is crystal clear — as much as the actual game.

What I saw, on the screen and otherwise, is a team that needs lots of work before its season opener on Nov. 16 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Reed.

“We’re going to play a lot faster than we did last year,” said Roland, who quickly admitted the Aggies didn’t show as much before about 8,000 fans on Wednesday.

Roland, Carter, Donald Sloan, Chinemelu Elonu and Bryan Davis — all veterans of last year’s second round NCAA tournament team — earned the start against the Javelinas, who closed the gap to five points late in the second half.

“It’s pretty obvious we’ve got a long way to go,” Turgeon said. “We’re a much better offensive team than we showed. Trust me.”

Touted point guard Dash Harris finished 0 for 2 from the field with no assists in what was likely a case of the freshman jitters. Carter suffered a cut over his right eye in the second half but team trainers bandaged it and he returned to the game.

A&M’s posts struggled for much of the game, particularly Davis, who finished 1 of 8 from the floor.

“We know Bryan’s not going to play that way,” Turgeon said.

Frankly, the Aggies were simply glad to play a team from another school, although they didn’t scout A&M-Kingsville at all while working on their own game. It showed, and the Javelinas played a Princeton style of offense in keeping the game tighter than the fans cared for.